Oriel Cafe

A group of five women met there the other day and we all felt that this is the best place we have ever gone for one of our luncheons. We had the mimosas (wonderful!), the meze platter and all of us want to know how they do that with the pitas/flatbread? So good!!! We also had the cheese platter which was as beautiful as it was great tasting, the bruschetta (best anywhere) and 3 different salads. While they were all different, the comments were the same...how does the chef get the dressings so perfect??? None of us have ever had a salad where the seasonings were so perfect without the salad being loaded with dressing. This was a welcome change. We met the chef and thanked him for the great lunch and several of the group told him that he has raised the bar for our dining experiences. We will be sure to go there for dinner some time. On Thursdays they have a jazz band playing so that is a definite must try. Try it, you'll love it!

We had a wonderful dinner here on a Tuesday night. Con is had to park at the library and walk. Nice night for a walk but still parking is a pain. We got there at 6:30 and only one other couple was in the dining room but we forged ahead. The gas fireplace was on so we sat on the couches, while waiting for the other couple to arrive, and chatted with the waitress a bit. The other couple got there and we decided to stay on the couches, it was THAT comfortable and relaxing. We loved having the place mostly to ourselves, felt like we were sitting at home versus out. During the three hours there only one other couple came in.

Tuesday is half price wine night so we split a bottle. Food was really good. Yes it took awhile to get entrees but that's because it is fresh, hot and cooked to order. Enjoyed some very tasty French fries! My hubby ordered the horseradish encrusted salmon special ($20) and a very nice piece of fish. I had a steak sandwich which came with fries and a salad. The bread was soft and the steak perfectly cooked. Other couple ordered seared scallops and turkey sandwich. The menu, with prices, is on-line but I didn't think theyre any higher then other Kirkland joints or unreasonable. My sandwich was $13 and I took half home. It was my friends birthday so we'd picked out a piece of chocolate cake from the dessert case beforehand to surprise him. We asked the waitress to bring it out at the end. They did with a candle, totally cool! They'd warmed the cake so it was molten and had whip cream, melted in your mouth!

Weve been looking for a place on the eastside to make ours and found it! I hate going places and feeling rushed or a number, wait staff cant wait to turn your table over. Not here. The chef came out at the end and visited, neat to talk with him.

Slow service. Way too expensive for the quality. Horribly uncomfortable chairs. Loud and noisy. Stinks of cigarette smoke from their smoking section on their patio.

I used to dine here regularly, until I had exhausted their previous short, but good menu. They have since changed their menu to a laundry list of greasy and uninspired faux hipster bar fare, much of which seems to resemble in both taste and presentation a microwave meal on an over sized plate. Add to that their sloppy and inexperience wait staff and there is little to recommend this place besides the location.